Hips - dreaded muffin top!

Hi,

So the area where i seem to store my fat seems to be on my hips - which makes me very conscious of wearing tight tops, as i am paranoid about people noticing I have "muffin tops". Has anyone got any good toning exercises to help reduce these - I am trying to lose weight as well, i realise i cant get rid of them just by dieting though - i really want to tone up my hip/waist area!

Any recommendations greatly appreciated!

Clemmie

Actually, diet is going to be key, because what you are dealing with is fat, and the only way to get rid of fat is to keep a deficit (through diet and exercise).

Any kind of activity will help you achieve a deficit, if your diet is in check. But there are no exercises that will specifically target that fat (or any other fat) - fat gets burned where the body decides it can let it go from, not based on what parts you exercise. My suggestion for exercise is lifting weights (heavy, relative to your strength) and high intensity interval training (HIIT).

The other thing to consider... find better fitting pants. Just this morning, walking to work, I saw a tiny tiny girl who had a muffin top - because as tiny as she was, her pants were too tight, or at least hit her waist at a bad spot for her body. Not saying you have to start wearing "mom jeans" but a different cut of pants can make a huge difference when it comes to muffins.

side bends!  go to a gym, and get a weight plate, the heaviest you can do for maybe 10 reps per side.  Get on one of those sideways leaning things (haha sorry don't know the term) and bend as far as you can with the weight on your chest and your arms crossed, holding it.  omg- the first time I did this, no joke, I like couldn't bend for a week!  but after a few tiems I got rid of my dreaded freshman 15 muffin top! 

Original Post by dplatzer:

side bends!  go to a gym, and get a weight plate, the heaviest you can do for maybe 10 reps per side.  Get on one of those sideways leaning things (haha sorry don't know the term) and bend as far as you can with the weight on your chest and your arms crossed, holding it.  omg- the first time I did this, no joke, I like couldn't bend for a week!  but after a few tiems I got rid of my dreaded freshman 15 muffin top! 

 Working the muscle in one area will not cause fat to be preferentially lost from that area.

side plank: has been great in encouraging my body to tone up my sides from waist to hip: remember to tighten core muscles, suck in gut, breath deeply, and hold the pose. increase count as you go along. 

leg lifts: lay on side. hips are stacked. put head on arm that is flat to ground, dont prop yourself up. pull in core so that waist lifts off ground in neutral position, so spine is straight, not curved towards floor. keep this position the whole time by keeping core muscles on. point toe to sky. move slowly through lift and decline, hold at top for a few. good butt shaper too! 

while there may not be such a thing as spot reducing, there is such a thing as toning, and it helps as part of an over all program, so i find with my body. good luck! 

Original Post by bubbles556:

while there may not be such a thing as spot reducing, there is such a thing as toning, and it helps as part of an over all program, so i find with my body. good luck! 

Actually, no, there is no such thing as toning. You can build muscle, and you can reduce fat (but not spot reduce) and it is one or a combination of these two that you are mistaking for "toning."

there is a such thing as toning a body. Usually though it comes after you have lost enough fat to make it worth it. you can tone your arms and legs and what not. But for the "muffin tops" there is no way to get rid of them except burning fat because thats what it is fat just sitting on your hips. Cardio is a great source for burning fat, preferrably doing HIIT (you can search that in the Fitness section). You can do side bends and planks and all the above in addition to the cardio and new low cal meal plans. Eat lean meats, whole grains, fruits and tons of veggies. Drink plenty of water too. also for the time being until the dissappear get better fitting pants. Its usually called "muffin tops" because your pants are too tight in the waist that the fat will spill over like a muffin top.

Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. Make sure you are on a caloric defecit to rid excess fat.

Exercise, exercise, exercise to burn even more calories!

Sit with your legs bent and feet flat on the floor. Lean back slightly. Use your lower abdominal muscles to keep your body stable. Hold a 10-lb. medicine ball between your hands. Move your arms from one side to the other. Touch the floor near your waist each time you bring your arms over. Repeat at least 12 times. Lie flat on your back, legs straight up in the air Pull with your abs to lift your backside up and down. Repeat at least 10 times. Bring down your legs. Bend your knees and put your feet flat on the floor. Lift your hips so that your body is straight. Hold for a few seconds. Repeat at least 10 times. Work up to 3 or more sets with each exercise. And...again..NUTRITION and working out at least three times a week to burn fat. As mentioned above...buy clothes that fit. Get pants in the right size and make sure they fit in the waist without cinching it. Look for jeans with a higher waist or low-rise jeans that aren't quite so low. Careful with those tight tops, too. Often, women refuse to go up a size because in their mind, buying the same size and/or a small size - that they can squeeze into - means they are still slender.  Even while being slender could very well be true, the WRONG size clothes will make even the skinniest of people look HEAVIER/FLABBIER.

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

Use your lower abdominal muscles to keep your body stable.  

What are your 'lower abdominal muscles'?

TVA and obliques, probably?

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

Use your lower abdominal muscles to keep your body stable.  

What are your 'lower abdominal muscles'?

The muscles in the lower abdominal region (below the navel) do not exist in isolation. The abdominal muscles consist of a series, called the upper, lower and oblique abdominals.

It's not possible to train the lower abdominal muscles and leave out the others, but it is possible to do exercises that emphasize this area.

Lower abdominal muscle exercises are exercises that involve the lower body, specifically the gluteals [the muscles in the hip and buttock region burn a lot of calories, the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body] and the quadriceps and calves. Translation - you burn more calories and more body fat. Strength training for the back and shoulders also helps boost metabolism, which is critical to low body fat. Some more examples of lower abdominal exercises are..

Plank - Lower Abdominal And Lower Back Muscles [This is an excellent exercise for the hips, thighs and abdominal muscles.]

Reverse Crunches - Lower Abdominal Muscles

Lying Scissors - Lower Abdominal Muscles

Hope that helps answer your question.

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

The muscles in the lower abdominal region (below the navel) do not exist in isolation. The abdominal muscles consist of a series, called the upper, lower and oblique abdominals.

It's not possible to train the lower abdominal muscles and leave out the others, but it is possible to do exercises that emphasize this area.

How? your abs all run from above to below your naval.  You can't contract part of a muscle, or contract one part of a muscle more than another part of the same muscle.  How do you emphasize one part of a muscle? 

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

The muscles in the lower abdominal region (below the navel) do not exist in isolation. The abdominal muscles consist of a series, called the upper, lower and oblique abdominals.

It's not possible to train the lower abdominal muscles and leave out the others, but it is possible to do exercises that emphasize this area.

How? your abs all run from above to below your naval.  You can't contract part of a muscle, or contract one part of a muscle more than another part of the same muscle.  How do you emphasize one part of a muscle? 

Your ab muscles are considered a segmental muscle, which simply means that they have different segments or parts. This is similar to the arrangement of the spine. Your spine has many segments [lots of vertebrae], and your abs move your spine. So the part of your spine that is moving determines the area of the abs that is emphasized.

If your ribs and upper back move, like in a crunch, the upper portion of your abs is emphasized. However, if you move your pelvis and lower back, the lower abs are emphasized.

So in order to emphasize your lower abs your pelvis must move or abs must work to keep your pelvis stable when your legs move.

To possibly get a little too technical here but although it is true that you cannot only activate the lower portion of the ab without activating the upper portion of the ab.... I think that sometimes the debate is over semantics, and the meaning of the terms isolate and emphasize are often used interchangeably.

I don't believe you can isolate the lower abs from the upper abs, but I do believe you can emphasize the lower abs by performing certain movements and exercises.

Some professionals will argue with the statement that you can emphasize the lower abs, but the truth is that you can emphasize the lower abs.

Some professionals say, “that the rectus abdominus [the 6 pack muscle] is one muscle and you cannot stimulate different parts of a muscle”, but this is not accurate.

People who make the claim that you cannot emphasize different parts of a muscle site the “All or none principle” which says that when a muscle fiber gets the signal to contract it contacts all the way—not in segments. So the argument is when the abs contract they contract all the way—not in segments.

The flaw is that people use the term muscle fiber or motor unit interchangeably with the term muscle. A muscle is made of thousands of muscle fibers, and thousands of motor units.

A motor unit is a single nerve cell and the muscle fibers it stimulates. Most muscles are made up of thousands of motor units. In regards to motor units, it is true that you cannot control different parts of a motor unit, but the nervous system recruits motor units in varying patterns.

Asynchronous contraction is a physiological principal that says that the nervous system alternates the motor units that it chooses to stimulate in order to prevent muscle fatigue.

And when you look at the nerve supply for the abdominal muscles you will find that they are innervated by multiple nerves.

Our brain and nervous system are way too complex and sophisticated to be limited to the statement you cannot emphasize an area of a muscle. [Physical Therapists use techniques to specifically activate the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) portion of the quadriceps.]

Lastly, the anatomy of the abdominal is such that there are tendinous intersections dividing the muscle and separating muscle fibers and the external oblique has an upper portion and lower portion according to one of the pioneers in physical therapy, Florence Kendall.

The late, great Dr. Mel Siff had a few thoughts about the possibility of selectively recruiting different parts of the abs and at least one study to back up the possibility of selectively activating the upper and lower RA.

 Though most sources I've looked at thinks Siff got that one wrong and feeling a particular exercise more in the upper or lower abs has to do with which set of tendons and muscle attachment points gets more localized strain, while the activation across the whole of the muscle is the same.

 I haven't seen anyone discuss whether that's a terribly important concept in practice though, since most people suck at doing ab exercises correctly anyway.

Original Post by melkor:

most people suck at doing ab exercises correctly anyway.

 That is correct and the most important concept people need to take away from all of this. Lower, upper,  and blah to the blah...etc...most important is doing them correctly. I've stated this over and over...I would guesstimate that over 60 percent of people doing abdominal exercises are doing them incorrectly. That percent is even higher when it comes to the people I have personally trained. More like 80 percent. I know I use to do them incorrectly as well, when I was a teenager. Proper form in EVERYTHING is first and foremost to not only get the results you are aiming for but to prevent injury!

As far as Dr. Siff ...well, it's pretty obvious what I believe from my previous, thesis length post. ;) [I love anatomy!]

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

I've stated this over and over...I would guesstimate that over 60 percent of people doing abdominal exercises are doing them incorrectly. That percent is even higher when it comes to the people I have personally trained. More like 80 percent. I know I use to do them incorrectly as well, when I was a teenager. Proper form in EVERYTHING is first and foremost to not only get the results you are aiming for but to prevent injury!

I'm curious... what kinds of mistakes do you see the most?

I don't know if this is the type of mistake that fitnessgirl is talking about, but there was a guy at my gym who had (at least as near as I could figure) the most useless method of working his abs.

He'd lie on the decline bench, with his legs hooked on the ankle pads. Once he got up to a 90 degree angle (upper body relative to lower body) he'd proceed to do crunches, never lowering (straightening) his upper body past that 90 degree mark.  Basically he could have done the same thing sitting on the floor, since gravity was never getting in the way of what he was doing, sat straight up and leaned forward, then sat straight up again.

If someone could explain how that was supposed to do anything useful, you're better than I (or you just misunderstood my explanation, because I swear - nothing useful).

I think I  suck at ab exercises.  I try to focus on the abs, and use them to do the work, and really visualize my ribs and hips coming together.  Don't know if that's the "right" way or not. 

I seem to do well with them, and I also seem to do well with my back extensions and other "core" muscle exercises.  (By seem to do well, I mean I keep doing more difficult versions and adding weights.)

Then I try to do something like planks and I seriously suck at them.  So, I figure my core is not as strong as I think it is.

Is there some other way of thinking, focusing, getting the form right to do them the right way? 

Original Post by karozel:

I think I  suck at ab exercises.  I try to focus on the abs, and use them to do the work, and really visualize my ribs and hips coming together.  Don't know if that's the "right" way or not. 

 Brining the ribs and hips together requires flexion and extension of the lumbar spine which can lead to problems.

Eric Cressey had an article out today which deals with core training, he breaks core exercises into anti-flexion (i.e. squats), anti-extension (i.e. planks) and anti-rotation (i.e. side bridges). If you're having trouble with planks try keeping your arms on an elevated surface (stairs, counter, wall, etc) and work your way down (like the way beginners build up to doing pushups on the floor).

Or do what I do, and say "F you Alwyn Cosgrove - I can only hold this plank for 45 seconds, and that's all I'm going to do"

Yeah, I started doing the planks on my bench when I realized that I was supposed to do 120 seconds, and I could only do 60 or so on the floor.  I even still do my push-ups on the bench if I have to do higher reps (meaning more than 6, lol)

I'll def. read the article.  I have 2 bulging lumbar disks, but they don't bother me much any more.  (Unless I fall asleep in a weird position on the couch like I did in May). 

Not that I can actually bring the ribs and hips together... just that I sort of focus on trying to, in my pathetic attempt to target the right muscles.